Learning and Incorporating other styles of drumming.

[DethChamber999]

Ok well so I have been at drums for about a year and in my currwnt band we play metal, I guess. Well when I play alone I usually just groove around and stuff. Well in my band its just usually straight foward 4/4 time and staight up simple drum beats.

So what I want to do is study other types of music (jazz, funk, latin) and Incorporate that into my playing with my band. So is it possible to incorporate these styles into this type of straight foward guitar riffs.

So my question is what type of books or videos or online recourses are they to learn these types of music. Also is there anyone here who incorparates different styles into metal or rock drumming.

[Hunted By a Freak]

Get these albums first off:

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue

James Brown - Live At The Apollo

Trio Mocoto - Samba Rock

Buena Vista Social Club - Buena Vista Social Club

That will give you some impressions of what the styles you mentioned are like.

Mainly you're going to want to be expanding your rhythmic vocabulary more than anything with these ideas, I would imagine. Since you will still be playing metal, though it is important to learn how to swing for instance, you will still be retaining the metal feel and timbres.

Some drummers/percussionists of different styles that could broaden your rhythmic range of comprehension:

Trilok Gurtu - The Glimpse

Zakir Hussain - Essence of Rhythm

Evelyn Glennie - African Sunrise/Manhattan Rave


Some drummers that play something closer to your style while still taking rhythmic influences from a lot of different places would be guys like Gavin Harrison, Danny Carey, Thomas Haake, and Virgil Donati. All of them play or have played in groups either rock or metal, while brining a lot of complex ideas to the table.

With listening the best thing to do is listen as much as you can, and pay attention to everything that is going on. Finding or making your own transcriptions of things helps with understanding enormously.

Some books to get you into other styles/broaden your vocabulary:

Advanced Funk Studies - Rick Latham
The Art of Bop Drumming - John Riley
Afro-Cuban Coordination For Drumset - Maria Martinez
Brasilian Cooridnation For Drumset - Maria Martinez

Also check out Gary Chaffee's Patterns series of books, esepcially "Rhythm and Meter Patterns".

Gavin Harrison's Rhythmic Illusions and Rhythmic Perspective books and Rhythmic Visions DVDs are worth checking out also.

[DethChamber999]

Thanks that was great.

[Josiah]

So my question is what type of books or videos or online recourses are they to learn these types of music. Also is there anyone here who incorparates different styles into metal or rock drumming.


Tommy Iggoe's 'Essential Styles' DVD comes with a poster/booklet and covers pretty much everything. One of the best resources for learning a lot of styles and grooves for them. Easy too, it's a dvd!



Unfortunately I think you are operating under the pretense that there is actually a generic rock drumming, and then you can add or subtract from that.

Thing is, you can play the same groove, and it work great a rock song and work great in a latin tune. Feel and context make all the difference in the world.

[Hunted By a Freak]

Isn't that exactly what we are talking about? Mixing different grooves into contrasting styles of music? I would argue that there certainly is generic rock drumming. If styles didn't have idiomatic elements about how they are performed or interpreted we wouldn't have the need to label them, would we?

[FockerTheLopper]

Get these albums first off:

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue

James Brown - Live At The Apollo

Trio Mocoto - Samba Rock

Buena Vista Social Club - Buena Vista Social Club

That will give you some impressions of what the styles you mentioned are like.

Mainly you're going to want to be expanding your rhythmic vocabulary more than anything with these ideas, I would imagine. Since you will still be playing metal, though it is important to learn how to swing for instance, you will still be retaining the metal feel and timbres.

Some drummers/percussionists of different styles that could broaden your rhythmic range of comprehension:

Trilok Gurtu - The Glimpse

Zakir Hussain - Essence of Rhythm

Evelyn Glennie - African Sunrise/Manhattan Rave


Some drummers that play something closer to your style while still taking rhythmic influences from a lot of different places would be guys like Gavin Harrison, Danny Carey, Thomas Haake, and Virgil Donati. All of them play or have played in groups either rock or metal, while brining a lot of complex ideas to the table.

With listening the best thing to do is listen as much as you can, and pay attention to everything that is going on. Finding or making your own transcriptions of things helps with understanding enormously.

Some books to get you into other styles/broaden your vocabulary:

Advanced Funk Studies - Rick Latham
The Art of Bop Drumming - John Riley
Afro-Cuban Coordination For Drumset - Maria Martinez
Brasilian Cooridnation For Drumset - Maria Martinez

Also check out Gary Chaffee's Patterns series of books, esepcially "Rhythm and Meter Patterns".

Gavin Harrison's Rhythmic Illusions and Rhythmic Perspective books and Rhythmic Visions DVDs are worth checking out also.

Exactly, pretty much, listen to as much as you can but still listen to the greats in your horizon and expand your rhythmic knowledge. Be careful to be quick to use something you just learned because quite often it isn't tasteful.

[some jive turkey]

I just have to say it.

If you have any interest whatsoever in Brazilian Rhythms, get
Duduka da Fonseca's : Samba Jazz Fantasia album.